The Hon. Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, commissioned the renovated Hamile Border Post at Hamile in the Upper West Region which is among several projects that the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, has undertaken in the country.
This is under the “Strengthening Border Security and Border Community Resilience in the Gulf of Guinea” project, aimed at improving regional stability along the northern border regions of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.
Hon. Ambrose Dery, who commended the German Federal Foreign Office and the IOM for their commitment to ensure that such well needed infrastructural improvements were carried out, said the mission of the Government of Ghana in this respect is to encourage development that will improve the quality of life of the people in the context of regular Migration.
‘This project, would contribute significantly to the fulfillment of this mission. No government works in isolation. It takes partnerships and support from other governments and institutions to achieve greater heights in development,’ he stated.
According to him, to effectively manage migration, there is the need to strengthen the national and institutional capacities and infrastructure and that is why the IOM is committed to ensuring that the Ghana Immigration Service and in particular the Hamile and the Kulungugu border posts, are primary beneficiaries.
The Minister expressed hope that the work carried out on the projects will contribute greatly to the benefit of the Ghana Immigration Service, the community members of the selected border posts and other border management institutions.
Hon. Ambrose Dery was of the view that the time has come to increase collaboration to meet the challenges confronting border management agencies and that similar projects and support have been made to the Governments of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. This is an indication of improvement in the regional border stability in the Gulf of Guinea.
He said the Government of Ghana is committed to doing everything possible to help the Ghana Immigration Service by providing the resources required to enable the Service realize its true potential and achieve its mandate.
Touching on Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), the Minister said it will provide the State with the capacity to collect, process, analyse and share traveler information as well as support the digitization of migration data to improve traveler facilitation and control.
According to the Minister, the installation of the System is timely especially at the time that the Government is championing the Digital Ghana Agenda which seeks to digitize Government services, build a biometric National Identity register among others. He added that Government is developing a robust framework to support the digitization of the economy in a manner that captures and benefits everyone.
